Teachers Use #ArmMeWith To Tell Trump What They Really Need

In response to the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Trump suggested teachers should receive gun training in order to be armed in their classrooms.

Because our teachers thankfully possess the capability for logic and reason where our president does not, they’ve started the #ArmMeWith movement in response.

Teachers are taking to social media to say HELL TO THE NO when it comes to being the kind of armed, dystopian educators the GOP seems to want them to be. Instead of arming them with guns and firearm training, they’re asking for something else: resources.

These teachers know that adding even more guns to educational environments isn’t the answer here. So they’re spreading awareness about what they actually need: school supplies, mental health resources, better funding, curriculum improvements, and stronger gun control legislation.

According to Buzzfeed, the two teachers who began the movement, Brittany Wheaton, andOlivia Bertels, met via Instagram. In the wake of the Parkland shooting, they began asking teachers to share their personal thoughts on how they can promote effective classroom safety without compromising the education of their students.

Teachers everywhere joined the #ArmMeWith movement on Instagram and Twitter — and we need to listen to what they have to say.

Many educators also shared their thoughts on why arming them with guns is probably not the most effective solution to our nationwide mass shooting problem.

I AM A TEACHER. NOT A POLICE OFFICER, NOT A SOLIDER, NOT A BODY GUARD. I would risk my life to save my students but I would never keep a concealed gun in my classroom, nor use it EVER. #ArmMeWith TISSUE & PAPER TOWELS. that’s all, Please & Thank you.

“Since teachers are the individuals in the classroom when it happens, I like to think we know what’s best for our students,” Wheatontold Buzzfeed. “If you’re an educator, you know that [more guns] is not a solution to stopping the violence that’s happening in our schools.”

I am a teacher. Arm me. Arm me with funding for a full time school Psychologist. Arm me with funding and mandatory school counselors. Arm me by funding smaller class sizes so I can best get to know every one of my 160 students and their families. Arm us with what we NEED.